Schoolchildren may not fully appreciate the opportunity to receive an
education, but it wasn't so long ago that instruction in the arts and sciences
was reserved for a privileged few. Fortunately, concerned educators have
worked to provide schools for all children and to develop the most effective
teaching methods possible. Here, we feature two such reformers: Emma Willard
and John Dewey.

The sixteenth of seventeen children, Emma Hart Willard grew up on a Connecticut
farm in an age that generally thought most females incapable of absorbing
much formal learning beyond the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Her father, however, did not take that view, and while she was taught the
domestic arts that were to prepare her for future duties as a wife, in addition
her father often made time with her to discuss abstract ideas such as philosophy
and to encourage her pursuit of learning. Emma responded eagerly to this
encouragement and in 1802 enrolled in the Berlin Academy. Within two years,
she was teaching the school's younger pupils, and in 1806, she took over
the task of running the entire academy for a term.

Soon after accepting a teaching position in Middlebury, Vermont, she
met her future husband, physician John Willard. As was the custom, she abandoned
her career in order to fulfill her domestic duties. However, the thought
of educational discrimination against girls continued to bother her, and
in 1814 Willard opened the Middlebury Female Seminary in her own home. The
term "seminary" implied advanced learning in classics, arts, and
sciences--a curriculum traditionally reserved for males. To prepare herself
to teach these subjects, she tried to take classes at Middlebury College.
Not surprisingly, the college denied her entrance because of her sex. Instead,
she was forced to remedy the situation through a combination of self-instruction
and tutelage from sympathetic friends. This stopgap measure proved adequate,
and her seminary was soon offering ample demonstration that girls could
meet the challenges of a rigorous academic program.

In 1819, Willard saw an opportunity to open her own school in Waterford,
New York. Hoping to earn state financial support for the venture, she published
An Address to the Public; Particularly to the Members of the Legislature
of New-York, Proposing a Plan for Improving Female Education, which
described the benefits to society of better education for women. The pamphlet's
well-stated arguments eventually exercised considerable influence in raising
standards in female education. It did not, however, win state funding. Instead,
the town of Troy, New York, provided the money, and in 1821, Willard opened
the Troy Female Seminary, a private secondary school for girls. This institution,
the first of its kind in the United States, continues today as the Emma
Willard School.

Willard never advocated a radical alteration of women's role in society,
but she did insist that girls were intellectually just as capable as boys.
Along with the traditional academic subjects, a student at the Troy Female
Seminary learned the art of being a "lady." Indeed, Willard was
well known for her impeccable grace and style, which she imparted to a whole
generation of America's elite young women. More importantly, Willard proved
the ability of women to learn and teach. Graduates of the school were in
high demand to staff the growing number of public schools for both girls
and boys. By the end of her life, Willard could take satisfaction in an
educational system that, thanks in part to her own efforts, included many
more opportunities for women as both students and teachers.

John Dewey (1859-1952)

John Dewey was not only an influential philosopher and a respected experimental
psychologist, but he was an educator and a social reformer as well. The
son of a grocer, he attended public schools in his hometown of Burlington,
Vermont. Later he graduated from the University of Vermont and taught school
in rural Pennsylvania. Perhaps it was these origins that prompted Dewey's
faith in the common man. Though he went on to spend his professional life
in the elite circles of America's finest universities, he never lost sight
of the needs and potential of ordinary citizens.

Dewey's philosophy was largely a reaction to the rising importance of
science during the late nineteenth century. How, Dewey wondered, could the
scientific method be applied to shaping individual and social behavior?
For him, the answer lay in a process of enlightened inquiry, in which men
and women engaged in experimentation and evaluation to determine the best
course of action. Not only could individuals use the process to benefit
their own lives, but whole nations could do the same through democratic
participation. Thus, rather than reacting passively to the environment,
both individuals and nations could assert a measure of control over their
destinies by making informed choices.

The key, Dewey felt, was to train people from childhood in the art of
rational deliberation. At the time, traditional schooling relied on rote
memorization, strict discipline, and a minimum of student input. Dewey envisioned
a student-centered environment, in which teachers adapted their curriculum
to the needs and abilities of each child. The object was to help children
use knowledge and experience to solve a wide variety of problems, not just
achieve a mere absorption of facts and information. By taking advantage
of the controlled atmosphere of the classroom, teachers could prepare students
to grapple with the complexities of the real world.

Dewey published his philosophy in numerous writings, including The
School and Society (1899), The Child and the Curriculum (1902),
and Democracy and Education (1916). In addition, his ideas were put
into practice at the Dewey School, now known as the University of Chicago
Laboratory Schools, founded and run by Dewey from 1896 to 1904. Still in
existence today, the Lab School served as a testing ground for the latest
theories of pedagogy and child psychology. Dewey's work perfectly captured
the scientific spirit of the age, and progressive reformers quickly adopted
his ideas in classrooms across the country. Eventually the progressive education
movement would be harshly criticized for pampering children at the expense
of academic performance, and even Dewey disapproved of its excesses. Nevertheless,
many of Dewey's ideas have persisted in classrooms and schools around the
world. More important, his philosophy has been the inspiration for many
who hoped for rational, democratic solutions to the great social challenges
of the twentieth century.